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With the Greek crisis, and a potential Grexit, euro weakness means the pound's holding steady above €1.40, so holidaying in Europe's at its cheapest for years. The dollar's decent at $1.54 - but less than 2014's six-year high. Yet these are City rates, bureau de change tourist rates are usually much worse, yet...

1.

New. £60 of euros for £50 prepaid card. With prepaid cards, you load cash on them, then use like a debit card. There's no credit check so anyone can get one. Full help and best-buys in Cheap Prepaid Cards, yet intro bonuses on two new cards effectively mean you get an even better rate than the City.

- Perfect rates & £5 extra on £10+. The new Revolut prepaid Mastercard* gives the perfect interbank rate for euros, dollars and many others for the first year. That's unlikely to be sustainable, so if it can't find a way to make other revenue after (eg, cross-selling) it may add a fee (it'll notify you if so). Also, there are no ATM or spending fees.

You sign up on its app (Apple/Android) and the first 25,000 who use invitation code MSE will get an extra £5 added when loading £10+. Full analysis:Revolut

- Urgent: £10 extra on £50+:WeSwap prepaid Mastercard* works in dollars, euros & others. The first 4,500 people via our link get two perks:

a) An extra £10 of currency when loading £50 or more. b) A better rate. Its best rate is if you can wait a week for your currency to convert, normally that's the perfect interbank rate + a 1% fee, but for those signing up via our link it's wiping this fee for the first year.

Spending's free, but there's a £1.10-£1.70 fee for sub-£200ish ATM withdrawals. Sign-up is via the website, but you'll need an app (Apple & Android) to use it. Full analysis: WeSwap

Important prepaid card info:

a) These are new, untested cards to us. They should work but there's a small leap of faith here. For fully tried & tested, FairFX Euro* & FairFX Dollar* are free via these links if you load £50+ and give £8 on £500+. b) These usually arrive within 10 days, but can take longer. c) To be safe, only load cash on the cards if you'll use them soon. d) If the prepaid card provider goes bust, your money's ringfenced at a bank. Revolut & FairFX are Barclays, WeSwap at Barclays/NatWest. e) Unlike the others, WeSwap's isn't UK-regulated, the card's issued by IDT, regulated in Gibraltar - so you're ultimately reliant on its regulations to protect you (a lot must go wrong though before this matters).

2.

Near perfect rate in EVERY COUNTRY, EVERY TIME, and no hassle. Specialist cheap overseas credit cards are usable in almost any country, and like any credit card, you just pay each month after you've spent. So pop it in your overseas wallet & use when needed, ensuring you repay IN FULL each month to minimise interest.

Top pick is the Halifax Clarity* Mastercard credit card. Unlike most debit & credit cards, it doesn't add a 3% 'non-sterling transaction fee', so you get the same near perfect Mastercard (which usually pips Visa) wholesale rate banks do for the day. If you don't repay it in full it's 18.9% rep APR.

Which wins? The top prepaid card or top credit card? Normally it's credit cards hands down as the rate is better, but the two prepaid cards above may pip credit cards (but even on £1,000 it's likely to be by pennies). Here are the key pros & cons:

- Prepaid cards need loading up, credit cards don't. So credit cards are simple, as you use them when you need, with no inactivity fees.

- Prepaid rate is when you load, credit card when you spend. That means with prepaid cards you're at the mercy of currency fluctuations - which can make you a winner if the rate gets worse, loser the other way round.

- Credit cards give good rates in every country. With prepaid cards they're usually only good in the currencies specified.

What does your card charge? Beware the debit cards from hell. If you don't have time to get a new card before you go away, use the how good is your current plastic? checker so you can see what your card charges.

The worst are the Overseas Debit Cards From Hell. Not only do they add a non-sterling transaction fee and an ATM fee, they also charge up to £1.50/time you use the card to spend overseas.

DO YOU HAVE A DEBIT CARD FROM HELL? Bank of Scotland | Halifax | Lloyds | Santander TSB | NatWest/RBS (hell for small spends)

ANY other card, including credit cards if repaid IN FULL, is cheaper to spend on than these. See full Debit Cards From Hell info.

"Do you want to pay in pounds or euros?" - SAY EUROS. When paying or even withdrawing cash, these days they often ask if you want to pay in pounds or the local currency. In general, always pay in local currency. If you select pounds, the overseas store/bank does the conversion, and rates tend to be awful. Full info and explanation in my 'pay in euros?' blog.

9.

I'm going to Greece. Help. In most tourist spots we hear things are still working as normal. Tourists can take cash from ATMs (provided they still have cash) and most stores still accept cards for payment. For safety though, take more than one payment method and enough euros for the whole holiday. For full info our Greek holiday worries FAQ and video.

10.

What's in your overseas wallet? Are you part of the 'overseas wallet or purse' club? I most certainly am. After all, there are some things you only need when abroad. The first are specialist credit cards - these tend to be pretty poor for UK use, so mine waits in the wallet till I go away.

As we always say, if your bank's a b*****d, don't bitch, just switch. Yet in the last year only 2% have. Thankfully, the switching price war's just ratcheted up, with one of the old monopoly banks, HSBC, wading in. Here's how it stacks up:

New. Free £240 HSBC switch trick. New switchers to the HSBC Advance account now get a free £120, plus open an ISA with it the right way (even if you don't keep the cash in it) and it pays you £10/mth on top. Plus, it offers a 6% regular saver. Full info on how to play this to the max in our HSBC £240 switch trick.

It's back. TSB free £100 + 5% interest. The TSB Classic Plus* pays the highest in-credit interest at 5% AER variable, though only on up to £2,000 and via this link it's relaunched its free £100 bonus, making it a hot deal for smaller savers. To qualify you need to use its switching service, pay in £500/mth, and have 3+ direct debits.

Do you earn enough to get 'em, especially HSBC? Many banks set a 'min monthly deposit' to ensure your income/salary is paid into them. At £1,750/mth, HSBC's hefty, equivalent to a £26,400+ salary. There is a workaround, eg, if you've £1,000/mth coming in, withdraw £750 as cash or to an account with another bank, then pay it back in and BINGO. Too much hassle? Here are some other lower pay-in alternatives (incl NO minimum M&S).

TOP FREE-CASH BANK-SWITCHING BRIBES (ranked from lowest to highest pay-in)

All credit-score & may require direct debits to be set up. (1) Pick the Current Account Direct, also available from sister bank Yorkshire*. FULL info: Best Bank Accounts.

Got decent savings? Earn 3% on £20,000. The alternative way to get you to switch, is to pay loss-leading savings rates for those in credit. Santander 123* pays 3% on £3k-£20k, there is a £2/mth fee, usually more than covered by the up to 3% cashback paid on bills. See full top bank account savings offers rundown.

The Competitions & Markets Authority's just launched a damning report that most people are overcharged (see energy news). In politer terms than us, it put a chunk of blame on people not switching. If you're reading this, you're online, so have little excuse (our worry is who's helping struggling web-illiterate 90-year-olds). Here's how to easily save...

ARE YOU OVERPAYING?(all figures based on typical usage levels)

Pay by monthly direct debit (dual fuel)

Standard big 6 tariff 70% of people are on these

£1,155/yr

Cheapest switchers deal

£870/yr

Cheapest switchers 1yr fix

£885/yr

Prepayment meters (dual fuel)

Standard big 6 tariff

£1,240/yr

Cheapest switchers tariff

£1,170/yr

Easily ensure you're PERMANENTLY on the cheapest. The cheapest deals usually only last a year-ish, so it's not only switching, but switching often enough, that pays. And summer bizarrely is often the cheapest time. To help, we built www.CheapEnergyClub.com. It does three things:

1) A full market comparison to find your cheapest. Your winner depends on where you live & your usage. So enter this and it'll show you. Unlike some sites, we don't exclude those that 'don't pay us'. Plus, our top picks section shows pros & cons of some of the tariffs you may miss.

2) When we get paid we split it with you. Suppliers pay c.£60/dual fuel switch (£30 single) to comparison sites, if they can switch you (you still get the same price as going direct). We split this, so you get £30 cashback (£15 single fuel). The rest pays our data & switch suppliers, leaving us with hopefully £11ish to pay the team that work on this, and hopefully some profit.

3) We then do a hidden monthly comparison for you. We keep your details and then compare each month. When you're no longer on the cheapest we email you when it's time to switch again & your new winner.

Cheap collective switch: These are short-lived one-offs, run by trusted intermediaries. Currently this collective switch* beats the market's cheapest fix on pure price - though with the MSE cashback above, it's beatable. Collectives aren't included by comparison sites, even us, so when there are big ones we cover 'em in MSE News.

4 gas & electricity need-to-knows.Full help & options in Cheap Gas & Elec, but in brief: 1) A fix locks in the rate you pay per unit, but if you use more, the amount you pay can still rise. 2) To get the lowest price, pay by monthly direct debit. Just ensure you give regular meter readings. 3) If you're in credit when you switch, the provider should give money back to you. Ask if it doesn't. 4) Cut usage to max your savings - see our Free Insulation, Green Deal and Energy Mythbusting guides.

SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: (Send us yours on this or any topic)A big winner using our Beat Sky Price Hikes info. "Sky planned to double my price after a discount ended. I rang it and it's given me 12 months half price, saving £400/yr."

There's no one no single cheapest home insurer. Instead you need a system to find your winner. Comparison sites are good but aren't catch-alls, we aim to fill the gap. Our full system's in Cheap Home Insurance, here's the foundation:

Know the right amount to cover. a) BUILDINGS - usually only needed by freeholders. Many wrongly insure their home's value. Instead, use a rebuild calc to see the cost of rebuilding if it were knocked down and cover that. b) CONTENTS - for everyone. Don't under-insure, thinking you'll never claim the full sum, eg, if you cover £10k but have £20k of stuff and your £1k TV breaks you may only get half. Use a contents calc.

b) We've blagged links to special new combined buildings and contents policy deals. Many've gained, eg, Ken told us: "My renewal increased to £404 - using the MSE links I got it down to £170, with the M&S voucher, a total saving of £314." Here are the current ones to check - vouchers/items take up to 120 days to arrive.

- Age UK (no min age) get a Landmann gas BBQ (RRP £90) with combined buildings & contents via link: Age UK*. - Age UK (no min age) £85 M&S vcher with a combined policy (£25 contents/buildings alone) via link: Age UK*.- Together Mutual, get a Delonghi coffee maker (RRP £92) with a new combined policy via link: Together Mutual*.- Together Mutual, get a £75 M&S voucher, with a new combined policy via link: Together Mutual*. - Legal & General, get a £65 Amazon voucher, with new combined cover via this link L&G* and the code GIFT15.

MSE team corner

Discussion of the week

Most parents of grown-up children will be familiar with the concept of "empty nest syndrome" but what about when it's the other way round and they move back home? Join the Full nest syndrome discussion and share your experiences.

Poll results

How much do you spend on alcohol each year? The surprising difference was that women apparently spend an average of just £562 per year on alcohol compared to £1,140 for men. Could this be linked to the archaic view that men should pay for women on dates? Or are women just more health-conscious?

Here are more of the results:

- 32% of men spend £1,000+/yr - 15% of women do the same - 2% of all spend £5,000+/yr

Question of the week

Q: Does being terminally ill affect an individual's credit rating or their spouses? Sharon, via Twitter.

MSE Helen's A: No. While there's a lot that a credit reference agency does know about you, there's also a lot that it doesn't - and your state of health falls into the latter category.

However, missing payments, for example because you've been hospitalised, could affect your rating. Try to avoid it, but if that happens, you can put a 'notice of correction' on your file. This is a max 200-word note, which allows you to explain any entry on your credit file. It means future applications for credit will be assessed by a human - which may delay them - but will also allow the information to be taken into account, rather than getting an automatic computer decline.

For more on what does and doesn't affect your rating, read our Credit Scores guide.

That's it for this week, but before we go, have you ever bought something you instantly regretted? Whether faulty goods or just down-right wastes of money (eg, clothes you’ve never worn). Share your biggest regret in the forum. And know yourConsumer Rightsif you want your money back.

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team

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